Too Many Reasons

Is George W. Bush insane?

UnknownNews.net asks the question "Is George W. Bush insane?"

Consider recent activivities, and decide for yourself with the help of this informative website at:
http://www.unknownnews.net/insanity.html

Conservative Comic Strip Snipes Bush

Mallard Filmore is usually an annoying right-wing reactionary comic strip with cute little drawings about a duck. I was shocked to see this comic strip critical of G.W. Bush. Maybe there’s hope for those that could not see?

To see more of this duck, check out:
OFFICIAL MALLARD FILMORE WEBPAGE

Bush Senior Met With Bin Laden's Brother on 9/11

by Paul Joseph Watson

Comment: Despite studying September 11 for two years solid, one
fact I only just discovered is that George W. Bush's father was
meeting with Osama bin Laden's brother, Shafig bin Laden, in the
Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Washington, on the morning of 9/11. They were
on Carlyle Group business just a few miles from where hijackers
supposedly acting on behalf of Osama bin Laden would fly a plane
into the Pentagon.

Recall that the chief financier of the so-called hijackers,
Pakistan's Chief Spy General Mahmoud Ahmad, was meeting with Bush
administration officials the week before 9/11. He also met with Bob
Graham and Porter Goss on the morning of the attacks, who would
later go on to head the first 9/11 investigative committee.

http://www.propagandamatrix.com/new_revelations_on_911

The Bush senior/bin Laden meeting was reported on by CBC. See
http://www.propagandamatrix.com/021103fifthestate.html

This was also reported by the London Observer. See the last
paragraph at
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,738196,00.html

"On 11 September, while Al-Qaeda's planes slammed into the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Carlyle Group hosted a
conference at a Washington hotel. Among the guests of honour was a
valued investor: Shafig bin Laden, brother to Osama."

ORIGINAL ARTICLE AT:
http://www.propagandamatrix.com/041203metwithbinladen.html

"Public" TV On the Ropes

Trouble Ahead for Public Broadcasting

Upcoming Hearings Will Affect Independence and Future Funding of Public Stations

In the next two months, Congress will hold hearings in both the House and Senate that will impact the future of public broadcasting. The current system relies on a blend of support from the government, nonprofit institutions, and individual citizens. The mission of pubic broadcasting is to facilitate the development of, and ensure universal access to, non-commercial high quality programming. Congressional opponents of the current system have threatened to challenge the long standing editorial independence that was one of the core reasons public broadcasting was created. We also anticipate the public broadcasting foes will try to undermine the disbursement of the limited amount of government funds the system receives.

In an era when the FCC has allowed further concentration of media ownership, and with mergers such as Comcast and Disney possibly on the horizon, a strong and independent public broadcasting system is more important than ever. It must be protected from efforts to politicize and privatize it.

Common Cause is launching a campaign to raise awareness about the serious political challenges ahead for public broadcasting and to enable citizens to weigh in with their elected officials on this very important issue. We need your help.

Take Action!

Here’s what’s at stake:

The independence of public TV could be at risk from efforts to allow political interference with the content of programs on National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Stable, long-term funding for public TV could be tampered with, making it more vulnerable to political pressure and influence. Popular shows like Frontline, Nova, and American Experience could be in jeopardy if funding for national programming is reduced or cut off altogether.
The programs you see and hear on public television and radio stations play a critical role in the flow of ideas and information in our democracy. [And don't forget Charlie Rose and Bill Moyers' NOW! -v]

Take Action. Write to Congress and ask your Senator and Representative to support legislation that keeps public broadcasting free of political interference and provides long-term funding.

Forward to a Friend. This issue has not received a lot of attention in the press. We need your help in spreading the word. Forward this message to friends and family and encourage them to get involved!

More information at http://www.CommonCause.org

Bin Laden 'surrounded???'

February 22, 2004

A British Sunday newspaper is claiming Osama bin Laden has been found and is surrounded by US special forces in an area of land bordering north-west Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Sunday Express, known for its sometimes colourful scoops, claims the al-Qaeda leader has been "sighted" for the first time since 2001 and is being monitored by satellite.

The paper claims he is in a mountainous area to the north of the Pakistani city of Quetta. The region is said to be peopled with bin Laden supporters and the terrorist leader is estimated to also have 50 of his fanatical bodyguards with him.

The claim is attributed to "a well-placed intelligence source" in Washington, who is quoted as saying: "He (bin Laden) is boxed in."

The paper says the hostile terrain makes an all-out conventional military assault impossible. The plan to capture him would depend on a "grab-him-and-go" style operation.

"US helicopters already sited on the Afghanistan border will swoop in to extricate him," the newspaper says. It claims bin Laden and his men "sleep in caves or out in the open. The area is swept by fierce snow storms howling down from the 10,000 ft-high mountain peaks. Donkeys are the only transport."

The special forces are "absolutely confident" there is no escape for bin Laden, and are awaiting the order to go in and get him.

"The timing of that order will ultimately depend on President Bush," the paper says. "Capturing bin Laden will certainly be a huge help for him as he gets ready for the election."

The article says bin Laden's movements are monitored by a National Security Agency satellite.

On Thursday last week, General Richard Myers, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said America had been engaged in "intense" efforts to capture bin Laden, who was believed to be hiding in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

But he insisted that the focus of the search had not narrowed for months.

READ THE ARTICLE AT:
http://www.sundaytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,9353,8752173-28778,00.html

Bush Wants More Jobs To Go Overseas

Continuing on the theme of Republicans killing jobs, George W. Bush has finally made the definitive statement of his profits-over-people philosophy of economics by actually encouraging businesses to export their jobs overseas:

WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) The White House on Wednesday stood by a top economic adviser who critics have accused of encouraging companies to export jobs overseas, a factor in heavy job losses during George W. Bush's presidency.

At issue is the practice of a growing number of U.S. companies to move all or a portion of their operations to places like Mexico, India and China, where labor costs are lower and goods can be produced more cheaply, in order to improve profits (...)

Mankiw sparked an uproar earlier this week with comments that appeared to laud "outsourcing" by U.S. companies overseas.

"Outsourcing is a growing phenomenon, but it's something that we should realize is probably a plus for the economy in the long run," he said.

With a tip of the hat to the Yellow Dog Blog , you can read the whole article at:
http://www.forbes.com/iraq/newswire/2004/02/11/rtr1255901.html

Barrage of Bush Books

Bush under attack by a barrage of books
By Bob Minzesheimer, USA TODAY

When White House spokesman Scott McClellan was asked about The Price of Loyalty, the best seller about former treasury secretary Paul O'Neill's disillusionment with the Bush administration, he replied, "I don't do book reviews."

If he did, it would be a full-time job. The Price of Loyalty is part of a wave of books bashing Bush.

In the first half of 2004, major commercial publishers will publish at least 25 books critical of Bush. Some may add to the criticism about his decision to go to war in Iraq. Among the titles:

•House of Bush, House of Saud by Craig Unger, who promises to document how financial and personal ties between the Bush family and the Saudi royal family affects U.S. foreign policy (March).

•Against All Enemies: Inside the White House's War on Terror by former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke, who joins O'Neill as the second Bush insider to break ranks with his former boss (March).

•Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush by John Dean, President Nixon's counsel (April).

•Bush on the Couch by psychoanalyst Justin Frank, who diagnoses Bush as a rigid thinker with a simplistic worldview (May).

•Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror by "Anonymous," a member of U.S. intelligence community (May).

Also out this month: Fraud: The Strategy Behind the Bush Lies and Why the Media Didn't Tell You by Paul Waldman and The Book on Bush: How George W. (Mis)leads America by Eric Alterman and Mark Green.

Former president Bill Clinton used to be fodder for best-selling conservative authors. Now, the only two political books on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list are critical of Bush: The Price of Loyalty (No. 24) and Kevin Phillips' American Dynasty (No. 40).

Nation Books' Neil Ortenberg, who published Jack Humberman's The Bush-Hater's Handbook last month, traces the trend to the popularity of paperbacks such as Vincent Bugliosi's Betrayal of America that "hit on issues of the day — Bush's stolen election, America's infatuation with military might — in a condensed and incendiary fashion." When larger publishers saw their success, "the floodgates opened."

But Adrian Zackheim, publisher of Sentinel, a conservative imprint at Penguin, says it's timing rather than a shift to the left by readers. With the Democratic primaries dominating political news, "it's not the best time to publish a book supportive of an incumbent president."

Out this week: John Podhoretz's Bush Country: How Dubya Became a Great President While Driving Liberals Insane and Sean Hannity's Deliver Us From Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism and Liberalism.

In September, Sentinel publishes Ronald Kessler's A Matter of Character: Inside the White House of George W. Bush. It's touted as "contrarian" because it praises Bush.

WND Books plans an August book by David Bossie, a former Republican congressional aide, promising "all the dirt on the 2004 Democratic nominee for president — whoever that may be."

READ THIS ARTICLE AT:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2004-02-16-bush-books_x.htm

Musicians Against Bush, Bush Against Musicians

Four different items in this batch...

1) Rock, Rap and the Election - Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

In 1985, Rock & Rap Confidential produced the short film “I'll Vote On.” It documented the efforts of the FBI and local authorities in rural Alabama to jail civil rights leaders for getting out the vote. Most charges (for "vote fraud") were ultimately dropped. But the 2000 Presidential election, marked by the deliberate disenfranchisement of thousands of registered Florida voters, confirmed that the right to vote in America still cannot be taken for granted.

Today, spurred by the disaster that is the Bush administration, a growing number of musicians are working to get their fans to register to vote. They range from punkvoter.com--started by Fat Mike of NOFX--to the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, which kicked off a nationwide drive to register 4 million voters in 2004 with a star-studded event (P. Diddy, Beyonce, LL Cool J) in Houston during Super Bowl week.

As a tactic, this is fine to the degree that it brings more people into one aspect of the political process, creating a potential common activity for punks and professionals, b-boys and bohemians, headbangers and health care professionals. The problem is that registering to vote is being put forward by musicians as a strategy, as an action that can, by itself, somehow impact our rapidly disintegrating society.

The first fact to be faced is that the majority of Americans who are registered do not vote. As Tom Morello put it after the 2000 election, "If there were a candidate who was running, say, for a six-hour work day at full pay, you might get more people going to the polls."

Since we lack candidates running on anything remotely like such a platform, we wind up with the strategy put forward by John Mellencamp for 2004: "I'll support whoever the Democrats put forward." Ditto for Lou Reed: "We must all unite and work for whomever opposes Bush, regardless of whatever differences we may have. Our motto: Anything but Bush."

Read the rest at:
http://www.rockrap.com/new/prize.html

2) Bush administration blocks Cuban Grammy nominees

US authorities have refused to let five Cuban Grammy Awards nominees travel to Sunday's ceremony in Los Angeles.

Musicians up for best tropical Latin album award - including veteran star Ibrahim Ferrer - have not got visas.

Ferrer, 77, told press in the capital Havana: "I am not a terrorist. I couldn't be one. I am a musician."

A US diplomat in Havana said the US administration could suspend the entry of people deemed to be "detrimental to the interest of the United States".

Read the rest at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3464801.stm

3) Joan Jett Wants to Be a Howard Dean Delegate

As you may have read, Joan Jett is running as a candidate to be a convention delegate from New York. Joan is a staunch supporter for Governor Howard Dean. If you are a registered Democrat voter in Congressional District 4( Carolyn McCarthy's disctrict) or in NY State that wants to push Joan forward, call Jim McKague at 516-766-7874.

If you are not sure which district you live in, go to this web site, enter your address and it will let you know which district you live in. http://map01.elections.state.ny.us/b

Jett, 43, said she agrees with Dean's stance against the war in Iraq, though she is a champion of members of the U.S. military.

http://www.joanjett.com/news/0312news.htm

Last but not least, some slightly old news, released about two weeks before Wesley Clark dropped out of the presidentiail race…

4) George Jones goes political

On the Wesley Clark campaign website it was announced that country music legend George Jones has endorsed Clark's campaign.

"I have never done anything like this before, but I feel strongly about the direction this country is headed," said George Jones. "As a former Marine, I know that Wes Clark is the candidate that is best prepared to protect our country. Wes Clark is a plain talking leader, who comes from humble roots and shares the same values that we share here in Tennessee and across the South. Wes Clark will never forget where he's from, or who he's for."

Read the rest at:
http://clark04.com/press/release/230/

Another Silly Bush Site

Poll Results: 98% of Americans don’t care

WASHINGTON — Poll results released today show that Americans have little tolerance for reality, and would prefer to not be subjected to information dealing with the intricacies of war, the economy, and our government in general.

more entertaining Bushisms at this new site:
GWBush04.com

Attention Deficit

Andrew Sullivan isn't your standard Bush-basher. He's an articulate conservative with a message worth sharing.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Attention Deficit
by Andrew Sullivan

Many conservative commentators greeted the president's "Meet The Press" interview with considerable gloom. President Bush, they argued, seemed tired, bumbling, didn't actually answer the questions asked, and failed to address the most important issues out there in the country. I disagree somewhat. I felt his answers on the war and its general rationale, his willingness to concede errors, and his demeanor were strong and appealing to those who aren't already turned off by this president's character and personality. But it was in the second part of the interview that things, to my mind, unraveled. Bush offered no compelling rationale for reelecting him. He offered excuses on the economy; and, on the critical matter of the country's fiscal health, he seemed scarily out of touch.

READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AT:
http://www.tnr.com/docprint.mhtml?i=fisking&s=sullivan020904

Robin Williams on Bush

"Bush is complaining about a lack of intelligence, which seems sort of redundant," Williams joked. "They say they don't know if Iraq had any WMDs -- well, all they have to do is ask (Vice President Dick) Cheney for the receipts."
- Robin Williams (actor, comedian)

courtesy of
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=456701§ion=news

Job “Growth” Under President George W. Bush

graphic courtesy of
MusicForAmerica.org